Congleton's Morrisons supermarket is to undergo a deep clean as part of a bid to improve hygiene standards in its shops.

Every three weeks, Morrisons' 494 stores will all be cleaned from top to bottom, introducing new equipment and additional cleaning staff.

The supermarket chain has already spent £25 million to implement store safety measures such as Perspex screens, PPE for colleagues, floor markings and visible signage.

Some 2,240 new cleaning roles will be created, including a new Market Street Hygiene Assistant in all stores, to clean food preparation areas across Market Street.

This will ensure the Morrisons food-makers can concentrate on making products for its butcher, baker, fishmonger, deli, greengrocer and florist departments, rather than having to focus on cleaning.

Additionally, nearly 30,000 more hours each week will be put into Morrisons' existing housekeepers and core cleaning roles.

This will see more areas across its stores - such as toilets, shelving and "high touch" areas - being cleaned more frequently to protect colleagues and customers.

New Welcome Cleaning Stations are also being fitted at all store entrances providing antibacterial wipes for baskets and trolleys, as well as hand sanitiser.

advertisement

Jayne Wall, operations director for Morrisons, said: "The hygiene within our stores has become more important than ever due to the impact of Covid-19.

"We want to make sure our customers feel as safe as possible when doing their grocery shopping with us, so we've made this multi-million-pound investment to introduce first class hygiene procedures."